The amount of trash is an ever-growing problem. This is especially true in the retail and commercial sectors, where a large amount of refuse is discarded daily. Most businesses have trash bins adjacent to their buildings for dumping the totality of trash collected either daily or throughout the day. The rate at which the garbage piles up in these trash receptacles varies according to factors such as the season, the industry, the location, etc. Consequently, different businesses and different locations of a business may require different pick-up times for their trash bins.
To minimize the cost of hiring commercial trash collection services to pick-up the trash from the trash receptacles, some companies may designate standard pick-up times, such as daily or weekly, even though the trash bins may not be full. Other companies may call commercial trash collection services only when their trash bins are full. Either way, the company usually must use the telephone to call the commercial trash collection service.
The detection of the level of trash in trash receptacles is known in the art. Such detection usually entails some device or method used within the receptacle that senses the level of trash. For instance, a photoelectric cell has been employed for this purpose, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,147 to Ippolito. Another variation measures the pressure exerted on the trash compactor to detect when the receptacle is full, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,027 to Neumann. Still, U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,863 to Woyden teaches using pressure-sensing means to determine when the trash container is full.
Additionally, it is known in the art to utilize a means for relaying the information regarding the fullness of the trash receptacle to another location, where the information can be processed. Usually, this relaying method encompasses a telephone or cellular phone line. Some of these devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,013 to Blackstone, Jr.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,299,493 and 5,303,642 to Durbin et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,594 to Tyler et al.; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,173,866 and 5,016,197 to Neumann et al.
While each of these systems are useful, they are burdened by several significant disadvantages:    First, they fail to minimize the expenses of telephone toll charges when transmitting information regarding the trash receptacles via a telephone line. This charge may be quite expensive, in light of the fact that some systems maintain a multitude of trash containers.    Second, they do not allow users to measure the amount of power supply left in the transmitting means. If the power supply runs out, the waste disposal detection system would be rendered useless.    Third, the references do not disclose a way to conserve energy and, thus, allow one to save on more expenses. And, since these references fail to conserve energy, they are not optimally environmentally friendly.    Fourth, the references do not disclose a means to verify that the measurements of the waste disposal container are valid, thereby preventing false readings which may also result in unnecessary charges in emptying a container that is not completely full.